Audit time....

Hello Housekeepers, won't you join me in auditing your life today so that we can all get a grip on where we are at and of course where we are heading? As always please feel free to steal the graphic and do a life audit of your own...

Today I am…

Sick. With a kind of general, head to toe malaise of the sort that has the doctor informing me that I look terrible and have clearly not been looking after myself. He even mentioned the dreaded peri-menopause word and I sat on my hands and resisted temptation to smack him about the chops.

Wearing pyjamas with a furry teddy on the front. The very sort I swore I would never buy, but found myself at the counter purchasing in a fury of PMT inspired need to be a child again. Oh yes, I am all about my hormones don't you know? Eating toast with jam, with my feet under the dog for warming purposes. Terribly glamorous because despite the bad pyjamas I am sporting a "bouncy blow-dry" after friends and family intervened in the hair stakes and informed me it was probably time I went in for a more sophisticated do. I remain then, a contradiction in terms.

Eating…

A lot of fish. Because a fishmonger all the way from Grimsby came knocking on my door and persuaded me to order enough fish to last a month, and a few days later it arrived deliciously packaged in ice. So now the freezer is full of haddock and prawns and I am turning into a mermaid. Also pesto, which I am dolloping in to jacket potatoes, and tangerines until they come out of my ears. Or maybe they are clementines? Or satsumas? I'm not sure, and I'm convinced no-one else knows either. Ooh and magnesium supplements again because they really do take the edge off twitchy sleep.

Planning…

Christmas in my Dad's house. As he won't actually be there, I am planning on moving me and mine over there, Christmas tree et all, on the day before Christmas Eve and staying there until New Years Eve, so that we will have a little bit more space and my own little house will stay tidy for any viewers who take it in to their head to come see the house during Christmas week. For houses do tend to get hilariously untidy at Christmas don't they? Then the boys can take over the conservatory with their games consoles and selection boxes and Ste and I can enjoy a cosy week snuggled up watching festive films and drinking Baileys on ice. Somebody remind me to tell Santa where we are though won't you?

Dreaming of…

Becoming more accomplished in 2016 by committing to learning more. Taking courses and reading books that challenge me to expand my very limited skill set. Creating an at-home yoga practise I enjoy. Becoming a better homemaker again, because I have lost momentum through trauma and need to pick up my domestic reigns. Learning how to blog differently, with one eye on business development because I need to be able to live on something more than a shoestring. I have signed up for this course, and this one and in the New Year I plan on taking this one. I am DETERMINED to be a better me...

Coveting…

A duvet day. These fur trimmed booties from Royal Vintage. A few hours to spend hopping around all the gorgeous Christmas Home Toursto be found on Pinterest. Time to read: I'm so tired lately that I last about five minutes before I need to switch the light off and sleep.

Wishing…

The world felt safer. That Finn didn't lie awake at night worrying about Syria. And floods. And men with knives in tube stations. And that I could give him more educated assurances that he is quite safe and truly believe it myself.

Also wishing I could find a diary that suits my urdy-gurdy lifestyle.

Working On…

My tree pose. Because I have convinced myself that life will be a more rewarding affair if only I could stand on one leg. The Housekeeper's Book of Days: my main bookish offering for 2016. Finishing up all that is outstanding. Putting 2015 to bed and hoping I never have to live through another year like this one, ever, ever, ever. Creating 2016. Not feeling intimidated by a January already fit to burst with work and social obligations. Finishing my Christmas shopping because frankly it has all gone to pot this year and I have convinced myself that I haven't bought enough for anyone...

Celebrating…

Surviving grief. Having hair I can both swing about and run my fingers through. Finley developing commitment to his schoolwork and an understanding of the need to strive.

Grateful For…

And finally tomorrow I will be…

Buying Ste some socks, because he is crazy cross that I keep borrowing his scrumptiously thick ones to wear under my floral wellies.

On my to-do list this month?

* Buying a box in which to keep all my lovely essential oils in a manner I can actually see them.
* Making thisheavenly pieagain.
* My annual Christmas cinema date with my bestest friend Kath.
* A 2016 life/business planning day with Ste. Loved the idea of a relationship annual general walk in this article by Libby Purves.
* A charity shop visit with Finley to donate all the toys he has now outgrown.
* Cooking Christmas dinner for the two boys before Christmas day as they won't be together on the actual day.